


Wolfsbane and Belladonna

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Evil Kate Argent, Evolved Derek Hale, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Reincarnation, True Alpha Derek Hale, True Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: There's a legend around Beacon Hills that tells a story about two lovers, a fire, an evil power and the reason that the whole town is surrounded by two of the deadliest flowers in the world. Perhaps its merely coincidence that the families of the two lovers remain close friends, and perhaps its less coincidental that when the Argents move into town, those deadly blossoms start blooming inside of a town they've never touched.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 16
Kudos: 166





	Wolfsbane and Belladonna

**Author's Note:**

> To anyone who's read this before, don't be confused! I was helpfully informed by a commenter about a couple of things and have edited them to be correct.

There's a legend that surrounds Beacon Hills, and any native of the town knows its story. 

The Hales and the Stilinskis were two of the first families to settle in the Hills. The Hales traced their ancestry back to Scotland, to wealthy dukes and duchesses, exiled by the English. The Stilinskis hailed from Poland, deep in the woodlands, and were said to have talents concerning plants but lacked in money. The two middle children of their respective families met one day in the woods, and it was love at first sight. The Hale boy would follow the Stilinski girl everywhere she went, seen more than once in her garden with her, helping her weed her vegetables and harvest her fruits. The Stilinski girl also had a talent for apothecary, and the Hales struck a bargain with her family - in exchange for a yearly stipend, the Stilinskis would come under Hale employment as herbalists and apothecaries and remain, permanently, in Beacon Hills. The Stilinskis agreed, and afterward, the Hale boy was hardly ever to be seen anywhere but her side. 

The story goes that another family, a French one, moved in to Beacon Hills. For some time, they kept to themselves. The Hales employed everyone in the town, from the farmers to the healers, and many in the community thought that the new arrivals weren't keen on working for another. One of their daughters, however, had eyes on the Hale boy, the only male child the Hales had. She tried to woo him away from the Stilinski girl, but his eyes would not stray. She tried for a year to draw his attention, to win his affection, but nothing - not even his own family - could pull him away. Her continuous and increasingly outrageous attempts made her the joke of the town. Furious, both at being ignored and being made a fool, the newcomers' daughter travelled under cover of darkness to the Hale house and barred the doors from the inside, lighting it ablaze. Unknown to her, both the Hale boy and the Stilinski girl were inside. Much of the family made it out safely. The family reportedly heard the girl wailing inside, screaming the boy's name. Neither of them were seen again, and it was assumed that they perished in the flames. 

One of the girl's talents, however, was her ability to heal with poisons. The night they died, she had gone there to transplant from her own garden her preferred remedy and his favourite flower. The ruins of the Old Hale House still remain standing, the rotting, blackened timbers the monument to two innocent lovers. However, the plants she set to grow there never burned, and spread rapidly through the surrounding forests, eventually surrounding the entire town, though never inside it. 

Some think it's a sign of protection, others think it represents a threat from the beyond. Most just warn their children not to eat the full black berries that grow there, or taste the sweet nectar that drips from the blue petals.

Children now who go up to the Old Hale House will find it overgrown in those deadly flowers, seeping out of every broken floorboard and cascading from every shattered window. One massive stump deep in the forest, too, is completely overcome by them. 

Scientists can't explain it, but that little town knows.

* * *

Lydia had never once had an issue with the town's flowers. Like ever little girl, when she thought she loved someone, she would go and snip off one bloom of each kind, taking them to one of the many little rivers in the Preserve to see if they would float together or apart. As she'd gotten older, she'd stopped bothering, and the flowers had largely left her mind. 

That is, until she pulled up in front of Allison's house.

"What is it?" Allison asked, looking perplexed. 

She swallowed thickly, superstition she never usually felt closing her throat. Like poison. "Nothing."

She drove away, forcefully suppressing the internal voice that told her she shouldn't be friends with Allison. The flowers stayed _outside_ the town - to have them creeping through the Argents' grass was a spectacularly bad sign. She shouldn't be around someone the flowers came for. 

"Seriously, you look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She insisted. "Don't worry about it."

| | | 

Lydia's silence did nothing to stop the rumour about the flowers from spreading, though, and soon the only two people who would talk to Allison were Lydia - who valiantly ignored the uneasy feeling she carried - and Scott - who was too stupid for his own good. Even Stiles, Scott's best friend and a science purist, would have nothing to do with her. That may come from him being a Stilinski descendant, though. Cora Hale had practically fled from Allison, and there was nothing that scared Cora. 

"Why does the whole town treat us like we have the plague?" Allison complained. 

"It's the flowers." Scott answered obliviously, despite Lydia's sharp elbow to his ribs. 

"The flowers?" Allison deadpanned. "The ones in my front yard? It was like that when we moved in."

Scott shook his head, the stupid bastard. "No, it wasn't. Those showed up after the first movers came. The flowers never grow inside the town."

"How is that possible? They're flowers - they'll grow anywhere. Right, Lydia?"

"Normally, that's true." She agreed hesitantly. "But these . . . They're different."

"How?" Allison barked. 

"They're Hale Wolfsbane and Stilinski Belladonna." Scott prattled on. "They're magic."

"Magic flowers."

"Yeah." Scott cocked his head, like a stupid, stupid dog. "Did no one tell you the story."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but _no one will talk to me_."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess." Scott finally ducked his head a little sheepishly. "They're the flowers of the two lovers that burned to death in the Old Hale House. Wolfsbane was the Hale boy's favourite flower, and belladonna was what the Stilinski girl used to cure people."

Allison frowned. "How long ago was this?"

"I dunno - 1550, maybe?"

"Town records say the fire happened in 1549." Lydia corrected quietly. The voice in the back of her head that said she should avoid Allison was getting stronger - something was coming. "Their bodies were never recovered, but the Hale family didn't see them come out of the house, either."

"Couldn't the Hales have set the fire?"

"And burn down their own house with their only son inside?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "Nah. Plus, the Stilinski girl worked for them."

"How do you know all this, but not their names?"

"Lost to time, I suppose." Lydia ruminated. "Who they were isn't really the point - it's that the flowers are what's left of them, and they act very weird. I can't tell you how many scientists have come to Beacon Hills looking to understand the flowers. They're not even the right colours."

"What do you mean?"

"Wolfsbane is supposed to be a an indigo-purple, but this wolfsbane is cerulean blue. And the belladonna? The berries are the same deep black they're supposed to be, but the petals are a deep burgundy with purple leaves. Normally, belladonna petals are purple as well, though there are variations in the shade."

"The stems look weird too." Scott chimed in. "The Hale Wolfsbane had this strange shifting colour to it. Sometimes it looks silver, sometimes green, sometimes hazel? The Stilinski Belladonna's stems are brown, which is weird because it doesn't have bark."

Allison sat back in her chair. "You really believe in this, don't you?"

Scott nodded unabashedly, but Lydia averted her eyes. 

"I can't believe this. A whole town's decision making, ruled by a fucking _flower._ "

"I know it doesn't make sense, but it is what it is. You didn't grow up here - it's hard to explain." Lydia hedged. 

"Wow." She huffed. She just stared at them until her phone went off. "I've got to go."

"What's up?" Scott asked. 

"Dad's coming to get me. My Aunt Kate is coming for a visit."

Lydia froze in her seat, the ominous sense of foreboding skyrocketting to full-on alarm. This was it - this was what it was trying to warn her about. Before she could think about it, she snapped out and grabbed Allison's arm. "Don't let her into your house."

Allison wrenched her arm away. "Have you gone crazy or what?"

"I-" She tried to think through it, but it was _screaming_ at her. "No, they know- that's why the flowers are there. They're waiting."

"I don't even have time for this. Goodbye." Allison stood and walked out, leaving Scott perplexed and Lydia starting to shake. 

"We need to go home." Lydia managed. "And not come out until this is over."

Scott took one look at her and nodded. "Yeah. Can you drive?"

She nodded, getting up and tossing a hundred on the table to cover their tab. She wasn't coming out until this went away, and then she was never speaking to Allison ever again. 

| | | 

After Kate and Gerard Argent's arrival in Beacon Hills, the streets were nearly abandoned. Family-owned stores and restaurants closed their doors and employees of big chains quit en-masse without notice when their employers tried to force them to work. Only the very desperate and emergency services went anywhere but the grocery store, and even there, the hours had been reduced so that employees wouldn't have to be out during the night. Even those most staunchly against superstition and religion didn't dare to venture out. The Stilinski family - consisting of Sheriff John, his wife Claudia and their only son Stiles - abandoned their house to move in with the Hales and remained largely sequestered there. 

Wolfsbane and belladonna were everywhere. 

Every lawn was full of it, enough to choke out every other plant. Entire roads would need repaving, because the plants had forced their way through the concrete. It had almost entirely encapsulated the hospital. The school had it growing throughout the entire main hall, making it unsafe for the students. None of the town natives dared to touch it. 

Gerard Argent, against his son's express wishes, had taken a weedwacker to it two weeks into his stay. 

The next morning, it had so thoroughly encapsulated the house that it blocked out the sunlight. The night after that, the _howling_ began. A singular, long and mournful note would echo through the empty streets of Beacon Hills, answered by a low but pervasive song in Polish, ending in a high, piercing wail. This call and answer carried on through the entire evening, and no one slept at all. 

"What the fuck is that racket?" Kate complained bitterly. 

"I told you not to touch the fucking flowers." Chris snapped back. Gerard huffed.

Allison, standing at the door, frowned. "Is that Derek Hale? I thought he was with his family."

Kate came to the door, looking out with her. There he was - Derek Hale, standing in the middle of the street in black pants that hung low on his hips and nothing else. He was looking up at the moon, taking deep, measured breaths. Kate pulled a pistol from her side, pushing Allison aside. "Stand back, sweetheart."

"Don't, Kate! It's not him!"

Just as her aunt lined up the shot, Derek's eyes shot over to them, blazing red. With his head still tipped back, he opened his mouth and released that same terrible howl. It seemed to shake the very foundations of the house, and they realized that despite how loud it had been in nights previous, it had been coming from _far away_. The lights in all the surrounding houses abruptly shut off, leaving only them and Derek on the street. The answering song was also much closer, the tailing cry making them all flinch. 

Chris grabbed Allison and pulled her away from the door, dragging her through the house and out the back door. They rounded the house, hearing it ominously creak, before she spotted Stiles in the street. 

"Stiles! What the hell are you doing?" She called. "Come on, we have to go!"

Stiles turned to face her, and it took her a minute to fully understand what she was seeing. In Stiles' hand, and wrapped tightly Stiles' wrist was one of the belladonna vines. What had at first appeared to be an illusion of the light turned out to actually be a dark dress, wrapped tightly enough to reveal that whatever this thing was, it wasn't the Stiles she knew. Not only was the gender wrong, but she looked much paler than Stiles (and wasn't that saying something) and had dark circles around her eyes. 

"I appreciate the warning," The woman who looked like Stiles said, "but my name is Mieczyslawa."

Chris froze at her side, but the woman only laughed. 

"Don't worry, you're not the Argents we're after." She waved her hand and a swath of the plants cleared, leaving a straight shot down the sidewalk. "But you should go. It's going to get ugly very, very soon."

"Who are you?" She couldn't help but ask. It seemed like her father knew, just by the name, but she had no clue. 

Mieczyslawa laughed, bright and airy. "Why, I'm the Stilinski girl. And I believe you were the one to spot my Hale boy. Good for you, Allison."

"What are you going to do to them?" Chris asked. 

Mieczyslawa raised an eyebrow. "Come now, Chris. Weren't you the one who told Derek never to ask questions you don't want the answer to? What you need to do is go to the Old Hale House. They'll be waiting, and they'll let you in."

"What did you become, afterwards?"

"A _zmora._ " She said, a thick Polish accent making itself known. "A wailing woman, a _nightmare_. If you don't do as I told you, you'll be sucked into this darkness too. And only Derek and I have ever made it through to the other side."

There was another howl, and Mieczyslawa turned to it naturally, raising her own voice and echoing back in song. Chris didn't have be told a third time, taking Allison's hand and dragging her away from the oncoming disaster. 

| | | 

The open path lead them to the Old Hale House, where they were somewhat surprised to find Stiles and Derek - the real one - along with Derek's uncle, Peter. 

"I was wondering if she would send you after all." Peter mused, perched casually on the banister. "I guess so."

"Since when did Mieczyslawa live long enough to become a zmora?"

"She always was one." Stiles said. He was leaning on Derek with his head on the larger man's shoulder. Derek was resting his head on Stiles' and they both had their eyes closed. "My whole family is magical. I, for instance, am a Spark. My father is an empath and my mother is a dryad."

"And Derek?"

"Any wolf with a magical mate is a True Alpha." Derek's eyes fluttered open, flashing a brilliant ruby red. 

"We're just lucky." Peter smirked. "Now, thanks to your family's interference, we get a set of True Mates every half-dozen generations or so."

"Don't be a jackass." Stiles griped. 

"I'm surprised the Argents kept the story about us."

"We always used it as a reason not to have any feelings towards supernaturals." Chris replied, somewhat weakly. All the half-truths he'd been told his entire life were slotting together before his eyes. 

"Typical of the Argents to make the wolf the villain." Peter rolled his eyes. "Two people, set to be married in the fall, and some tart flounces in on the wind and blames the groom-to-be for not cheating on his partner with her. What a saint."

"That's . . . not how it was told to me." 

"Hmm, I bet not."

"Katherine was deranged before they came to Beacon."

All five of them looked up the path, finding Mieczyslawa and Derek (the original?) walking up the path leisurely. Mieczyslawa's dress was overcome by belladonna vines, and Derek had a crown of wolfsbane in his hair. They were holding hands, brushing each other with every other step. 

"If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else." Derek continued. 

"We also didn't let her get very far." Mieczyslawa's grin was sharp, unnatural, and it took Allison a moment to realize it was because she had a double set of just-too-large canines. The rings of shadows around her eyes were more prominent too, like smudged eyeshadow. 

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking." Peter spoke up."

"Mieczyslawa ripped out her heart." Derek replied casually. "I was still recovering from the burns. I did hunt her father for sport afterwards, though."

"Why did they have to die this time?"

The pair turned their attention on Allison, and she almost wilted under it. 

"Chris knows." Mieczyslawa said darkly.

Chris sighed, but didn't answer. 

"Regardless," Mieczyslawa breathed out, "it's done."

"Until next time." Peter smirked. 

"You're giving me a headache, Peter." Stiles muttered. 

"No new books for you, then."

Mieczyslawa's Derek laughed, pulling her into his side. "You never change."

She huffed, but didn't rebuff his embrace. 

"Hmm." Peter's gaze was drawn to the sky. "Looks like it's nearly time for you to go."

Mieczyslawa and her Derek both looked up as well. "So it seems."

Stiles and his Derek finally opened their eyes, meeting the gazes of their predecessors. It was Stiles who spoke. "We'll take good care of the town."

"Oh, I know you will." Mieczyslawa smiled. "Until we meet again."

There was a sudden _rush_ of belladonna and wolfsbane that encapsulated the pair, then got swallowed up by the ground, taking them with it. 

Stiles made eye contact with Allison. "Not a word."

"I wouldn't be able to explain this if I tried." She replied. 

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page." Stiles stood, purple springing to his fingers. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Wait, what-?"

* * *

Allison woke up with a gasp, blindsided by the gentle sunlight filtering through her curtains. She slid out of bed, rushing down the stairs to find all the windows and doors entirely intact. She threw the front door open, unable to reconcile the completely untouched streets and grass-filled lawn. 

"No, that shit couldn't have been a dream." She shook her head. "No way."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a single stalk of wolfsbane entwined with a single stalk of belladonna leaning against the side of the porch. 


End file.
